The Election Commission of India (ECI) has ordered a re-poll in West Bengal’s Valta Assembly constituency based on a detailed report by Special Observer Sujit Mishra, who reported multiple polling irregularities across various polling stations in the constituency in South 24 Parganas district, according to the observer’s report, assessed by HT.
The issues flagged by the Special Controller had previously been reviewed by the Returning Officer (RO), who described them as not serious enough to warrant concern. However, the monitor’s report, submitted on May 1, contradicted that assessment by reporting violations on a station-by-station basis. A day after receiving the report, the Independent Electoral Commission ordered re-polling in the constituency on 21 May. While the results of 293 of the state’s 294 constituencies will be announced on Monday, the votes for Valta constituency will be counted on May 24.
According to the eight-page report, signed by Sue Mishra, after voting ended on April 29 — the constituency voted in the second phase — the returning officer and controller general of the 144-Valta constituency conducted the audit the next day at Diamond Harbor Women’s University. They submitted a report stating that there was no invalidation of the voting process.
After reviewing the same records, the support office found flaws in how the audit was conducted. The auditor’s report said the audit was conducted “mechanically and hastily by relying primarily on official records without proper examination of video footage.”
The auditor also found that the audit was conducted in the absence of a candidate who raised several complaints, meaning those complaints were never considered. The report added that written notice of the audit, as required under European Credit Commission instructions, “cannot be demonstrated to have been duly provided to the candidates”.
The controller said that “examination of the available footage revealed serious procedural violations attracting section 58(b) of the Representation of the People Act (RPA) 1951” – violations that the returning officer’s examination had completely overlooked.
Irregularities in CCTV records
The observer’s report details violations that occurred at dozens of polling stations in the Valta district, derived from a review of surveillance camera footage. At polling station 229 in the district, no video footage was available from the start of polling until 3.41pm, while at polling station 177, footage was not available during three separate windows: 11.05am to 1.15pm, 1.28pm to 1.38pm, and 3.04pm to 3.22pm. The observer noted that the station recorded “an atmosphere of fear even among election officials.”
The report said that at polling station No. 226, video was not available for long periods between 11 a.m. and 1:12 p.m., and again between 1:18 p.m. and 4:43 p.m. Likewise, footage was missing from 11am to 2.30pm at polling station 230, with “comrades voting” and “unauthorised persons entering the polling station” also recorded. At polling station 235, video was missing from 10:55 a.m. to 11:59 a.m., with the same person “repeatedly entering the voting booth” and “two voters at the same time inside the voting booth.”
“Serious allegations of intimidation and voter obstruction were not verified due to the lack of footage,” the report said.
Proxy voting
In addition to the missing footage, the report also documented abuses in places where the cameras operated. At polling station No. 224, the observer noted in his report “an extremely large number of instances in which attendants cast votes on behalf of voters throughout the day; multiple people were present inside the voting booth; the same individuals showed up to vote several times; and the poll worker repeatedly approached the booth and cast votes on behalf of voters.”
Similar incidents also appeared at polling stations 160, 182, 232 and others, the repost said.
The report said incidents of poll officials repeatedly entering voting booths arose from polling stations 144, 80 and 247, among others.
The observer concluded that 60 out of 285 electoral centers in the Council district, or 21% of the total polling stations, were rigged during the elections. “These 60 entries represent 21% of the total number of voters in the district. As many as 22.82% of voters – 53,967 out of a total of 236,444 voters – were registered to vote at these polling stations,” the report added.
